1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to drinking water, mixed feeds, and fodders for laying hens, and to a method for improving the taste of hens' eggs.
2. Statement of Related Art
Most of the hens' eggs on sale today come from battery hens or free-range hens. These hens are given mixed feeds and/or fodders prepared under the latest animal nutrition provisions to meet the high demands of maintenance and laying performance of the hens. In the following, "mixed feeds" are understood to be the mixes prepared under the guidelines of German legislation on feedstuffs; all other mixes are referred to as "fodders".
Mixed feeds and fodders for laying hens are often very deficient in their formulation because they only take into account the formation of the eggs and not their taste. Because of this, the eggs of hens fed with such mixed feeds and/or fodders can have an insipid taste, i.e. they lack the characteristic taste of eggs.
It is known that flavorings, such as vanilla, saccharin, or sodium glutamate may be added to fodder mixes for hogs (cf. for example Ullmanns Encyclopadie der technischen Chemie 12, 47 (1976)). Such additives improve the fodder intake of the animals.
It is also known that the feeding of fishmeal, gossypose-containing cottonseed extraction waste, or relatively large quantities of rape extraction waste produces negative changes of odor and taste in hens' eggs (see, for example, G. Gebhardt "Tierernaherung", VEB Deutscher Landwirtschaftsverlag Berlin (1981)).